MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Physics Department

8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring Term 2004

Exam #2

Problem 1 (25 points) Polar Molecules

E
+ + +
+ + +
+
- - - - - - -

In a particular situation polar molecules (molecules possessing a permanent electric

dipole moment) can be adsorbed on a surface creating a dipole layer with a total
electric dipole moment P that remains finite even when the electric field perpendicular
to the surface E goes to zero. Expressions for two important response functions in
this system are given below.

�
∂P
�� b
χT ≡ = (a + )N + 3cN E 2
∂E
T
�
T

aT 2 + bT + 3cT 2 E 2
�
∂T
��
=
∂E
�
P bE − dT 2

In these expressions a, b, c and d are constants and N is the number of molecules.

One also knows that P = P0 when T = T0 and E = 0. Find an analytic expression
for the electric dipole moment P.

1
Problem 2 (40 points) Elastic Rod

L adiabat
F
L0
isotherms

L0 L T

The internal energy U and the tension F in a certain elastic rod are given by the
expressions

cT 4 a
U (T, L) = + (L − L0 )2
4 2

F (T, L) = (a + bT ) (L − L0 )

where a, b, c and L0 are constants.

a) Find the work done on the rod, ΔW , as its length is doubled from L0 to 2L0
along an isotherm at temperature T .

b) Find the heat added to the rod, ΔQ, along the same path as in a).
dL
c) Find the differential equation = f (L, T ) governing an adiabatic path in the
dT
L − T plane. [Hint: you may want to check to see if your result is consistent
with the sketch given above.]

Problem 3 (35 points) One­dimensional Ising Model

reversals

centerline

N spins are equally spaced around a circle in the x­y plane. Each spin can point
either parallel or antiparallel to the z direction. There is no applied magnetic field so
neither orientation is preferred. However, the spins interact with each other through
a nearest neighbor interaction. If two neighboring spins point in the same direction,
they contribute an amount −J to the total energy; if they point in opposite directions,
they contribute an amount J. Thus the total energy of the system depends on the
number of reversals, R, that occur around the ring.

E = JR − J(N − R) = J(2R − N )

a) Assume that N is even. What are the smallest and largest values that R can
have? What are the minimum and maximum values of E?

b) Find the total number of microscopic states of the system consistent with a
given number of reversals, Ω(R). Note that this corresponds to the number of
ways the R reversals can be distributed among the N inter­spin locations.

c) Assume that N is large. Find the entropy S of the spin chain as a function of
N and R.

d) Find the energy of the spin chain as a function of temperature, E(T ). Make
a sketch of the resulting function for the case J > 0 and indicate the low and
high temperature asymptotes. Consider only positive T.

e) What is the mean value of R in the high temperature limit?

3
PARTIAL DERIVATIVE RELATIONSHIPS LIMITS

Let x, y, z be quantities satisfying a functional ln n

lim =0
relation f (x, y, z) = 0. Let w be a function of n→∞ n
any two of x, y, z. Then √
lim n n = 1



 n→∞
∂x ∂y ∂x
=
∂y w ∂z w ∂z w lim x1/n = 1 (x > 0)

n→∞


∂x 1
=
 lim xn
= 0 (|x| < 1)
∂y z ∂y n→∞
∂x z  x n



 lim 1+ = ex (any x)
∂x ∂y ∂z n→∞
n
= −1
∂y z ∂z x ∂x y
xn

lim =0 (any x)

n→∞ n!

COMBINATORIAL FACTS

There are K! different orderings of K objects. WORK IN SIMPLE SYSTEMS

The number of ways of choosing L objects from
a set of K objects is System Intensive Extensive Work
quantity quantity
K!

(K − L)!
Hydrostatic P V −P dV
if the order in which they are chosen matters, and system

K!
Wire F L F dL
L!(K − L)!

if order does not matter. Surface S A SdA

Reversible E Z E dZ
STERLING’S APPROXIMATION
cell

ln K! ≈ K ln K − K when K >> 1 Dielectric E P EdP

material

Magnetic H M HdM
DERIVATIVE OF A LOG material

d 1 du(x)
ln u(x) =
dx u(x) dx
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8.044 Statistical Physics I

Spring 2013

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